Launching a scathing attack against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, “Is he a Chief Minister or a pilot?”, saying the state’s law and order went “from bad to worse as CM Mann spends all his time touring with Arvind Kejriwal”.

He announced the establishment of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) regional office in Amritsar within a month to tackle the growing drug trafficking and menace in the state.

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Shah questioned the state government over its poll “guarantee” of giving Rs 1,000 per month to every adult woman.

The Home Minister was narrating the nine-year achievements of the Modi government in Centre and also launched the election campaign in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Saying that AAP is an advertisement party, he slammed the state government as the law and order and drugs emerge as key challenges for the government.

In his 20-minute public address as part of an outreach programme of his party, the BJP leader Shah said, “Bhagwant Mann has time for Arvind Kejriwal but not for the people of Punjab. People of Punjab are feeling insecure. The people will teach a lesson for this.”

The state’s law and order is going from bad to worse as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “spends all his time touring with Arvind Kejriwal”, he said.

Taking a jibe at the government, he said the government has prioritised advertising for Arvind Kejriwal using taxpayers’ money.

Accusing the AAP of making empty promises, he asked what happened to its promise of Rs 1,000 a month to women in Punjab.

Saying that India is now known as a growth engine in the nine years of the helm of the Modi government, he said in 1984 thousands of innocent Sikh brothers and sisters were killed in the massacre that was done by the Congress leadership.

“From 1984 to 2014, the culprits were not punished. The Modi government did the work of sending the culprits of Sikh riots to jail.”

Remembering the contribution of Punjabis before Independence, the Union minister said, “Whether the atrocities were committed by the Mughals or the British, Punjab faced it firmly and secured the country. Be it the Gadar movement or the Jallianwala Bagh, the history of the country’s Independence has been written by the sacrifices of Punjabis.”

“The great Sikh Gurus taught the lesson of patriotism, equality and harmony not only to Punjab but to all the countrymen. Following this, Punjab has protected the entire country in every crisis before and after Independence,” Shah said.

“The Narendra Modi government has decided that it will work on eradicating drug menace from Punjab, and hence, we have decided to establish an NCB office in Amritsar within a month,” Shah announced.

He said the party’s activists would visit every tehsil and village to carry out awareness campaigns against drugs in the state.